Sunday, October 2, 2016

Well, since we all know how terrible I am at blogging...here's my first pregnancy update! In the third trimester! I've also been terrible at taking weekly photos. I think we did weeks 10, 11, 12...then 22. Then 28. Yikes. I can't believe he'll be here in 12 short weeks. I remember when I was 12 weeks pregnant and felt like I had been pregnant forever. ha.

At my last appointment, almost a month ago now, they said that baby was measuring ahead. She said that at my next appointment, which is this week, if he was still measuring ahead, they would probably do another ultrasound and measure everything. When we had our elective 3D ultrasound, the tech there seemed to be surprised at how big he was too, and that he already had some chub on his cheeks. I'm kind of hoping that he's still big, and that we had the original dates messed up. That would mean baby would arrive sooner, yay!

I thought I would go back in time a little bit and talk about what it's been like...

When I first got the positive pregnancy test, I almost couldn't believe it. I got into the doctor right away, and they tested all my levels. He had suspected a progesterone problem, and even though my levels were perfectly normal, because of my history of miscarriages...they got me on progesterone at 5 weeks. I was on it until about 13-14 weeks or so. That was not very fun. This may be too much TMI, but it's my blog so whatever. SO...vaginal suppositories. Not so awesome. I had 4 a day, two in the morning and two at night. I would lay down right after I put them in so everything wouldn't just slowly leak out, because...gross. They weren't very fun, but obviously I stayed on them just in case. It was a lot and it made me super bloated, super fast. I felt like I was showing right away, but we wanted to wait until we were further along to announce.

Once I was off the progesterone I felt much better. Also, I really didn't have much morning sickness. I mean, I did feel nauseous often, but I never threw up. It was kind of annoying because some people would say things like..."oh if you're not sick, you should feel terrible..blah blah blah." So it would cause extra stress that I really didn't want or need.

I didn't feel like I had any weird cravings, but if I realized I wanted something, I REALLY wanted it. There was like a week that all I wanted was like...breaded chicken. Chicken strips, nuggets, patties, whatever. I also enjoyed quite a few crispy bean burritos, caesar salads, and lemonade. I was really put off by any red meat and steamed vegetables. Oh, one time I had texted Nathan that on his way home, he needed up pick up Honey Nut Cheerios. As the day went on, I realized, I really wanted them. So I ended up going to the store myself, and buying a HUGE box of Honey Nut Cheerios. Yum!

Pregnancy overall has really agreed with me. I haven't had any significant complaints or problems. I am starting to have a harder time sleeping, and if I'm on my feet too long, my feet get swollen. What has been most surprising is the emotional part of it. I haven't really ever been emotional, I am usually very easy going. But there have been a few times, when something hasn't gone exactly the way I thought it would, I would just cry. One time it was about not having snacks, another was plans had been postponed, and yet another was when Nathan switched to the night shift at work. Even just a little thing could tip me off. It's very strange.

We feel very blessed and are getting more and more excited as the weeks fly by.

He did it! Nathan graduated from the nursing program! We are both so relieved and proud of his hard work! We had family come to celebrate with us. Nathan's dad, stepmom and siblings flew up from California. His grandparents flew up from Utah. And my sister came from Seattle. We also had all our family that already lived in town come too! Friday night was the general graduation from Columbia Basin College. Then Saturday afternoon was the separate nursing pinning ceremony.

It was so exciting to see Nathan get pinned along with the friends that he had made along the way. After the ceremony, we headed back to my parents house, where we had set up the backyard for a taco bar!

3 out of the 7 boys in his class.

They all decorated their caps. This was Nathan's.

His scrubs, and his grad gown. (and honor tassels)

The backyard

Some of the goods.

Drinks

Trash

Forks

Cookies!!

A few weeks after he graduated. Nathan and I travelled up to Spokane for him to take the NCLEX. We went a day early and spent the day exploring downtown. Then we had a pre-celebration dinner at The Melting Pot. The hotel we stayed in was literally in the same parking lot as the testing center. So he woke up and went and took his test. (He found out 2 days later he passed!!) After the test we went and did floating. Which is super awesome, and really relaxing. (learn more about it here)

Erin got his a stethoscope name tag for graduation. He now can officially use it!

Nathan turned 26 in May! I made the best cupcakes in the world. Chocolate cupcakes with a reeses inside, topped with whipped peanut butter frosting. Delish! Also, this was the first time Ruby did something naughty. I had left the cupcakes on the table, which was near the couch, to cool when I went to the store to grab a few last minute things. When I got back...there was a cupcake missing and several bits out of other cupcakes. She just couldn't resist!

I crack myself up. At least I appreciated the decorations.

Bananas, peanut butter, fruit and almond...cake?

Ruby also turned 3 this year! Can't believe it! We feel so blessed to have found her, and "rescued" her at 6 months old. It may sound silly, but she really is my best little friend and I'm not sure what I would do without her.

I can't remember when we did this, but it was so much fun and I just found the pictures on the laptop.
At our local Ranch & Home, they sell these different kinds of popcorn, and they even sell sample bags of each kind. So we decided for an FHE activity, we'd pop the popcorn and do a blind taste test to see which kind we liked the best.